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Beit HaMikdash
Reconstruction: view from among olive trees on the Mount of Olives across the misty Kidron valley to the Temple platform, smoke rising straight up from the altar before the square-fronted Sanctuary.

בית המקדש השלישי

The House, as though it stands today

An educational future reconstruction, built from Mishnah Middot and Rambam, with every choice labelled.

Open the model

The approach

You begin outside, on the Mount of Olives, looking west across the Kidron valley. The eastern wall of the Temple was kept low, so that from here the Sanctuary's doorway could be seen.

Cinematic

Reconstruction: pilgrims carrying baskets of first fruits climb a stepped limestone street toward the Temple; the Sanctuary's square front with its doorless opening and stacked lintels rises at the top of the street.
From the city, pilgrims climb toward the Mount. The Sanctuary rises above every roof.

Orientation model

Every court, gate and chamber below is drawn from the Mishnah's measurements. Select any part for its Hebrew name, purpose, who could enter, its size and its sources. The warm wash shows the rising degrees of holiness.

Plan of the Mikdash according to Mishnah Middot, as reconstructed by this site

The warm wash deepens toward the west, following Mishnah Kelim's ten degrees of holiness. Each zone's degree is also written in its panel.

Select any court, gate, chamber or structure on the plan, or choose from the list, to see its Hebrew name, purpose, who could enter, its measurements and its sources.
Cubit assumption (for conversions only)

A widely used halachic estimate (handbreadth of 8 cm). No conversion is certain; the Mishnah measures in amot.

Gates: every threshold is a transition

The Mishnah names the gates and what they were used for. It does not describe their decoration, and the site does not invent it.

How many gates did the inner court have? Middot 1:4 lists seven. In Middot 2:6, Abba Yosi ben Chanan counts thirteen, one for each of the thirteen prostrations. The Mishnah preserves both, and so does the model.

Open question seven or thirteen: The sources disagree or are silent. The site does not choose an answer.

Temple Mount, five gates

  • Huldah Gate (western)

    Used for entry and exit.

  • Huldah Gate (eastern)

    Used for entry and exit.

  • Kiponus Gate

    West; used for entry and exit.

  • Tadi Gate

    North; not used for ordinary traffic. Its lintel was two stones inclined together.

  • Eastern Gate (Shushan)

    Bore an image of the palace of Shushan; the priest who burned the red heifer went out this way to the Mount of Olives.

Azarah, seven gates

  • Nicanor Gate שער ניקנור

    Copper doors, left unchanged when other gates were plated with gold.

  • Gate of Kindling שער הדלק

    South side.

  • Gate of the Firstborn שער הבכורות

    South side.

  • Water Gate שער המים

    The water for the Sukkot libation was brought in through it. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov links it to Ezekiel's future river.

  • Gate of the Spark שער הניצוץ

    Shaped like a portico, with an upper chamber where priests kept watch.

  • Gate of the Offering שער הקרבן

    North side.

  • Beit HaMoked (fire chamber) בית המוקד

    The priests' vaulted night chamber, where the keys were kept.

עזרת נשים

The Women's Court is not a ‘women's section’

The was a great square court of 135 by 135 amot that men and women alike entered. It is named for women because their ordinary access ended here; beyond it lay the inner court, whose access was governed by ritual status and priesthood.

Its four open corner courts held the Nazirites' chamber, the woodshed where priests with blemishes sorted firewood, the chamber for those completing purification from skin disease, and the store of oil and wine.

Once a year it became the heart of Jerusalem. On the nights of Sukkot, giant golden lamps lit every courtyard in the city, and a balcony was built so that women could watch the from above.

Reconstruction: night in the Women's Court during Sukkot, tall golden lamp-stands with ladders, barefoot elders dancing with torches, Levites with instruments on the fifteen curved steps, women watching from the balcony.
The water-drawing celebration, from Mishnah Sukkah 5:2-4.
Reconstruction: fifteen curved steps rise to the Nicanor gate with its open copper doors; barefoot Levites in white linen hold lyres; beyond, the Sanctuary's square front with its doorless opening and stacked oak lintels.

The Nicanor Gate

Fifteen steps. Then the inner court.

Fifteen curved steps, one for each Song of Ascents. The Levites sang on them. At the top, copper doors that were never replaced with gold.

From here, the pace of the site slows.

The Court of Israel and the Court of the Priests

Two strips of eleven amot each, across the whole width of the . A line of mosaic stones divided the people from the priests.

Reconstruction: the inner courtyard looking west along the axis; the altar with its red line stands before the Sanctuary, its smooth ramp running south, a bronze laver beside the steps, barefoot priests in white linen, and the Sanctuary's square front with its doorless opening and golden vine within.
The Azarah, looking west toward the Sanctuary.
What you see
Israelites stand in the first strip; priests serve in the second, which Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says was raised two and a half amot, with a three-step platform where the Levites sang.
What it means
The whole people is present at its own service. An Israelite steps into the priests' court only for his own offering: to lay on hands, slaughter or wave it.
Where it comes from

המזבח

The Great Altar

Whole white stones, a ramp and not steps, a red line around the middle, four horns, and a fire that never went out.

Reconstruction: the great altar of whitewashed unhewn stone, broad and low, with a red line around its middle and square stone horns at its corners; two barefoot priests carry wood up the smooth ramp, which has no steps.
Side elevation of the Great Altar seen from the eastA stepped square altar 32 amot wide at its base and about 9.7 amot high, with four horns, a red line at half its height, and a ramp 32 amot long rising from the south on the left.Ramp, 32 amot, no stepsRed line32 amot (Middot 3:1)~9.7 amot(58 handbreadths,Rambam 2:6)person, to scaleSouth (ramp) at left. Seen from the east.
Diagram from Middot 3:1-3 and Rambam 2:5-13.

  • Yesod (base)

    One amah in, forming the base. It ran along the north and west sides and one amah of the south and east.

  • Body to the sovev

    The sovev, a ledge one amah wide, ran around the top of this stage. Priests walked on it.

  • Upper stage

    Place of the horns and the priests' walkway; the fire-place was 24 by 24 amot.

  • Whole stones, no iron

    Built of unhewn stones from virgin ground; iron was not lifted against them. Whitewashed twice a year.

Why blood?

The Torah gives its own reason: ‘the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls’. Blood stands for life. It is placed on the altar, never eaten.

Not feeding God

The Psalms answer the obvious misunderstanding directly: ‘If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is Mine’. The prophets insist the altar means nothing without justice.

Communal and individual offerings

The Tamid, twice daily, belonged to the whole people and was paid for by everyone's half-shekel. Individuals brought their own: thanks, celebration, purification. The same altar carried both.

Read the full explanation of korbanot.

What actually happened to an offering?

Seven steps, described factually and without graphic imagery.

Choosing

An animal without blemish, at least eight days old. The Torah forbids offering an animal and its young on the same day.

ההיכל

The Sanctuary building

A hundred amot wide at the front, a hundred long, a hundred high: ‘narrow behind and broad in front, resembling a lion’.

Reconstruction: the Sanctuary facade, a square limestone front with a doorless opening under five stacked oak lintels; inside the porch the golden vine above the gold-plated doors of the Heichal; barefoot priests on the twelve steps.
The porch facade and the golden vine (Middot 3:8).
Section through the Sanctuary, east at leftThe Sanctuary is 100 amot long and 100 high. From the east: the porch, 100 amot tall; the Heichal, 40 long and 40 high; one amah; the Holy of Holies, 20 long; the western walls and a side cell. An upper storey sits above the Heichal and Holy of Holies.12 stepsPorchHeichal (Holy)Holy of HoliesCellPorch doorway 40 x 20, no doorsUpper storey (aliyah), 40 hightrap doors for repair workers100 amot east to west100 amothighEastWest
Section after Mishnah Middot 4:5-7. Façade ornament is not shown; it is unknown.
Reconstruction: inside the gold-lined Heichal, a barefoot priest on the three-step stone tends the Menorah, seven lamps level on straight diagonal branches; the incense altar and the Table with two stacks of six loaves; a woven curtain at the far end.

Inside the : the on the south, the on the north, the golden incense altar between them, set a little outward.

Beyond the curtain, the Holy of Holies.

קודש הקודשים

The innermost space was not a public chamber.

In the Temple service, the Holy of Holies represented the highest degree of sanctity. In the Second Temple period, the High Priest entered it only on Yom Kippur as part of the day's prescribed service.

Understand the Holy of Holies
What is known?Confidence, from primary text to unknown

Established in primary text

  • The courts, the altar and the Sanctuary's main dimensions.

Classical interpretation

  • The Court of the Priests stood higher (Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov).

Historically supported

  • A soreg inscription survives from the Second Temple.

Reconstructed

  • The placement of chambers, gate positions along the walls, and all facade ornament.

Unknown

  • The exact future implementation of Ezekiel's vision; whether the Ark will be present.